Tina was sitting at her desk at work, tears flowing down her face, dripping unnoticed onto her keyboard. She was feeling so many conflicting emotions, that her head was literally spinning. Reading Bette’s e-mail had been both comforting and loving, yet also left Tina feeling scared and insecure. She wished now that she had waited to read this at home, instead of at work. However, when she heard the little voice tell her she had mail, and saw that it was from Bette, she was too excited to wait. Now, all she wanted was to crawl into bed and let go.

Tina was contemplating how she could walk past everyone, and hold it together until she could get to her car, when there was a knock on her office door. She quickly wiped at her face with her arm, trying to get rid of the evidence of tears, and said, “Come in.”

Elaine Brown opened the door and stuck her head inside. “Hey stranger. How…” She immediately saw how distraught Tina was. She quickly entered the room, and after quietly closing the door behind her, she rushed over to Tina’s side, putting her arm around her shoulders. “Hey…what’s wrong?”

Tina felt the comfort and safety of Elaine’s body next to her own and leaned into her, allowing the tears to flow once again. “Well, I asked Bette to answer some questions I had…I guess I just didn’t think reading those answers would be so hard. Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting from her, and I obviously I didn’t prepare myself for how I was going to react to reading about her and Candace’s relationship.” Tina continued to cry, as Elaine tightened her grip on Tina’s shoulder.

“Hey, have you had lunch yet?”

Tina shrugged her shoulders. “No, but it’s 3:30. It’s too late now. I’ll just wait for dinner.”

Elaine stood up and put her hands on her hips, causing her low rise jeans to slide down just a touch. “Nonsense! Listen, I am finished filming for today. How bout I treat you to some luinner.”

Tina scrunched her eyebrows together. “Luinner?”

Elaine laughed. “Yea, you know…brunch is in between breakfast and lunch…luinner is in between lunch and dinner!”

Tina just raised her eyebrows and nodded her head. “Right…”

Elaine grimaced at Tina. “Ouch! Did you hear that thud…that was my one and only attempt at humor falling to the floor!” Elaine bent back down so she was kneeling next to Tina. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat and you can catch me up on your week away.”

Tina really did enjoy Elaine’s company and after Elaine spent the night holding Tina, she trusted her as well. Besides, she needed to eat something anyway. “Ok, thanks Elaine, but it seems like all I am ever asking you to do is comfort me.”

Very softly Elaine said, “Tina, being here for you is something I am not only glad to do, but I am flattered that you trust me enough to ask.”

A half an hour later, they were sitting in a small cafe at a table for two next to the window. Tina was busy filling Elaine in on all the events of the past week, including describing the picture Bette had asked David to paint, all the time devouring a chicken and spinach salad.

“Wow…” Elaine leaned back in her chair. “Now that is a woman who goes after what she wants! You have to give her points for that, right?”

Tina smiled at Elaine. “Yea…as overwhelming as it was for me to see that painting, you have to admire Bette for her determination and creativity.” Tina chuckled and then reached across the table and took Elaine’s hand in hers. “Thanks for this Elaine. This really is helping, especially because you don’t know Bette and can be objective.”

Elaine continued to hold onto Tina’s hand and said, “Well, I don’t know how objective I am Tina, because I am partial to you, and just want what will make you happy.”

Tina looked down at her salad, then looked back up at Elaine with a smile on her face. “Thanks.”

The two women continued their conversation, oblivious to the woman standing behind the telephone pole across the street with a camera in her hand. She was a tourist from the States and had been window shopping, when she noticed the TV star and her friend enter the cafe. What started out as an innocent photograph to show friends back home, changed when she saw the two women holding hands across the table.

A little while later, as Elaine was paying for lunch, Tina walked outside to the front of the restaurant to wait. Her mind wandered back to Bette’s words…”I did love Candace, and I do still love her. I think she will always have a place in my heart.” ‘God, how do I move past that, knowing she will always be with us in some way?’ The tears started to come again. She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned to Elaine, who was just standing there watching her…waiting to see what Tina needed.

Tina needed to be held. She reached out and hugged Elaine, crying into her shoulder. After a moment Elaine let go of Tina, but put her hands up and cupped Tina’s face. “Shh, it will be Ok Tina. I promise it will be Ok. There is obviously so much love between the two of you. It will take time, but you are on your way…it will be Ok.” With that she leaned forward and gently placed small kisses on Tina’s cheeks and eyes. There was no expectations behind the kisses, just one friend comforting another.

However, the camera across the street didn’t see the tears running down Tina’s face. It didn’t pick up on the fact that these were just two friends, and not lovers. It’s shutter just captured two women holding each other…as one of them showered the other with kisses. And at that moment, all the woman behind the camera could think about was the money she could get from the American tabloids for pictures of Elaine Brown and this mystery woman. And as she was counting her money in her head, Tina and Elaine were walking back to the car…Tina lost in thought about how she was going to respond to Bette’s letter.